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Below is the manifesto produced by the Soviet of Workers’ Deputies at the height of the revolutionary storm which bubbled over in Russia in 1905. It is striking how many similarities there are between the autocratic tsarist regime of 1905 and the towering heights of predatory capitalism today.

The working-class shook Tsarism to the core when they felt their collective strength in 1905 and in 1917 the working-class swept Tsarism into the dustbin of history. The shaky ground which capitalism currently rests on can once again be shaken as the working-class move into action. Capitalism itself can be swept into the dustbin of history as the working-class reject the poverty, exploitation and misery that is becoming all too familiar.

As working-class people start to feel our collective strength in the face of the bourgeoisie’s fracturing system, socialism can once again be placed firmly on the order of today’s business and with the collective effort of billions of workers across the world we can achieve a society from each according to ability, to each according to need. All we need do is demand it and through collective action, strive for it.

“The government is on the brink of bankruptcy. It has reduced the country to ruins and scattered it with corpses. The peasants, worn out by suffering and hunger, are incapable of paying taxes. The government gave credits to the landowners out of the people’s money. Now it is at a loss as to what to do with the landowners’ mortgaged estates. Factories and plants are at a standstill. There is unemployment and a general stagnation of trade. The government has used the capital obtained by foreign loans to build railways, warships, and fortresses and to store up arms. Foreign sources have now been exhausted and state orders have also come to an end. The merchant, the supplier, the contractor, the factory owner, accustomed to enriching themselves at the treasury’s expense, find themselves without new profits and are closing down their offices and plants. One bankruptcy follows another. Banks are failing. All trade exchanges have been reduced to the barest minimum. The government’s struggle against revolution is causing daily unrest. No one is any longer sure what the morrow will bring.

Foreign capital is going back home, ‘Purely Russian’ capital is also seeping away into foreign banks. The rich are selling their property and going abroad in search of safety. The birds of prey are fleeing the country and taking the people’s property with them.

For many years the government has spent all its state revenue on the army and navy. There is a shortage of schools. Roads have been neglected. In spite of this, there is not enough money even to keep the troops supplied with food. The war was lost partly because military supplies were inadequate. Mutinies of poverty-stricken, hungry troops are flaring up all over the country.

The railways are economically sick through the government’s fault. Many millions of roubles are needed to restore the railway economy.

The government has pilfered the savings banks, and handed out deposits to support private banks and industrial enterprises, often entirely fictitious ones. It is using the small saver’s capital to play the stock exchange, where that capital is exposed to risk daily.

The gold reserves of the state bank are negligible compared with the existing claims of government loans and the demands of trade turnover. It will be reduced to nothing if gold coin is demanded for every transaction.

Taking advantage of the absence of any control of the state finances, the government has long been issuing loans which far exceed the country’s means of payment. With these new loans it is covering the interest on old ones.

Year after year the government issues false accounts of expenditure and revenue, showing both to be less than they are in reality and robbing indiscriminately to show a surplus instead of an annual deficit. Officials are free to rob the treasury which in any case is already exhausted.

Only the Constituent Assembly, after the overthrow of autocracy, can halt this financial ruin. It will carry out a close investigation of the state finances and will draw up a detailed, clear, accurate, and certified balance sheet of state revenue and expenditure (budget).

Fear of popular control which would reveal to all the world the government’s financial insolvency is forcing it to keep putting off the convening of the people’s representative assembly.

In order to safeguard its rapacious activities the government forces the people to fight unto death. Hundreds of thousands of citizens perish and are ruined in this fight, and industry, trade, and means of communication are destroyed at their very foundations.

There is only one way out: to overthrow the government, to deprive it of its last strength. It is necessary to cut the government off from the last source of its existence: financial revenue. This is necessary not only for the country’s political and economic liberation, but also, more particularly, in order to restore the financial equilibrium of the state.

We have therefore decided:

To refuse to make land redemption payments and all other payments to the treasury. In all transactions and in the payment of wages and salaries, to demand gold, and in the case of sums of less than five roubles, full-weight hard cash (coinage).

To withdraw deposits from savings banks and from the state bank, demanding payment of the entire sum in gold.

The autocracy has never enjoyed the people’s confidence and has never received any authority from the people.

At the present time the government is behaving within the frontiers of its own country as though it were ruling conquered territory.

We have therefore decided not to allow the repayment of loans which the government contracted while it was clearly and openly waging ware against the entire people.

Signed: The Soviet of Workers’ Deputies.

The Main Committee of the All-Russian Peasants’ Union.

The Central Committee and the Organization Committee of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers’ party.

The Central Committee of the party of Socialist Revolutionaries.

The Central Committee of the Polish Socialist party.”

To read more about the events which surrounded this document, check out 1905 written by Leon Trotsky.

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Socialist Party, RMT, PCS, Unite, UNISON, NUT and Momentum members were all out supporting junior doctors as they took to strike action on February 10th earlier this year.

Ryan Aldred interviewed Kim, Daniel and Rebecca about the reasons why they were on strike:

RA: Why are junior doctors on strike?

K: Nothing has changed since the last strike action and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has vetoed an agreement between the British Medical Association (BMA) and NHS Employers.

RA: What are the effects of the proposed changes?

K: If the changes go through then the safeguards which prevent doctors from working dangerously long hours will be removed. “Lower hours” would be nice but this is going to be less likely without the safeguards in place. You certainly wouldn’t want to see me after a 30 hour shift (the maximum length of time a doctor could be expected to work before the safeguards were removed)! We don’t want to make mistakes and if we are working longer and longer hours mistakes will be more likely which will put patients at risk which is something we won’t risk.

D: It is likely that there will be more walkouts if the government refuses to listen.

R: I see an end of the NHS coming. In 13 years it’s never been this bad. The NHS has the monopoly so there’s nowhere else to go. I know 6 people who have already taken contracts in Australia or New Zealand.

RA: What is the pay for a newly qualified junior doctor?

For someone who has just qualified they will be on around £24,000 a year. However, we also have to fund a lot of our training ourselves with no external support. The General Medical Council (GMC) fees are £500 and I have to pay in order to progress. For example, I’ve got to pay for two lots of exams which cost £500 each this year alone.

RA: Will patient care suffer if these changes are brought in?

K: Definitely. The new rotas aren’t compatible with life let alone working life.

D: If safeguards are removed doctors will be exhausted and will be more likely to make mistakes. A demoralised workforce is an unproductive one. A standard working week is 48 hours. I have even had to do 39 hour weekends.

RA: What has public support been like?

K and D: Amazing.

K: One patient said “if you’re here tomorrow, I’ll be cross.” It’s such an important cause.

D: It was nice to know that I had the support of my patients, with one of my patients saying “We’re all behind you!”

RA: What do you hope to achieve with the strike?

K: We hope that this will convince the government to listen to the BMA. Safe contracts should be the real goal.

D: No more lies from Jeremy Hunt and no more false statistics. Actual negotiations without threat of imposing contracts.

Since this interview, Jeremy Hunt has imposed the new contract terms and has refused to negotiate with the BMA. In response the BMA has called for 3 lots of 48 hour strike action, determined to get the government to listen. The first 48 hour stoppage took place from Wednesday 9th March-Friday 11th March with doctors still receiving overwhelming public support.

The National Shop Stewards Network has been in contact with a number of junior doctors and many of our supporters have invited them to speak at their union meetings to help build solidarity. In consultation with them, we have drawn up a model motion that can be discussed and hopefully passed throughout the union movement.

It calls on the TUC and the unions to “urgently convene a special TUC general council with an invitation to the BMA and the other health unions.

This meeting should discuss organising an emergency Saturday national demonstration on the theme of ‘Defending the NHS, supporting the junior doctors’ and coordinating industrial action against Tory health service cuts and their effect on health workers, such as the attack on NHS bursaries.”

Help support Junior Doctors by sharing this post so that their message can spread further.

The development of Momentum has the potential to be an important step in the process of organising Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters. This is important for mobilising the swelling support for Corbyn as a means to challenging the ideas of austerity and firmly putting the ideas and policies of Socialism back on the mainstream agenda. It is clear that the right-wing Blairites that currently have control of the Labour Party machine are organising a very open coup against Corbyn as evidenced daily in the press attacks by the likes of Ben Bradshaw, Simon Danczuk and John Cruddas. Momentum has the potential to effectively counter the Blairite opposition to Corbyn but it will only realise that potential if it remains open and does not shy away from taking on those who have polluted the Labour Party over the last 30 years.

Momentum has raised the interests of many, whether old Labour members who have been disillusioned in the past by Labour’s lack of opposition to the Tories who are now coming back or new layers, inspired to get involved by Corbyn’s anti-austerity message. It has also attracted those from outside the ranks of the Labour Party to play a part in building the movement. Trade unionists, community campaigners, those not willing to throw their lot in with a particular party at this point and those in various other political parties are currently engaging with Momentum. If it remains open and broad in this way the Socialist Party will continue to support and be a part of this process.

However, Momentum is still finding its feet nationally and because of this it is fulfilling a number of different roles in different areas. In some places it is very open, democratic and welcoming of those from the wider labour movement. Yet, in other areas it is closed off to anybody outside of the Labour Party. This is a mistake as it limits the scope of debate and leaves Momentum being very insular rather than aiming to appeal to broader layers to build a mass working-class movement.

On Debate and Dealing With the “Moderates”

It is clear that there is another group which is very interested in Momentum and that group is the so-called “moderates”. The same group of “moderates” that have a stranglehold on the Parliamentary Labour Party and the majority of councils. The same group of “moderates” who are doing all they can to stop the loss of their free ride on the gravy train by trying to shut out and isolate Corbyn’s supporters. Whether it be making members feel unwelcome at meetings, duping the public by speaking socialist rhetoric one minute then putting through swingeing cuts the next or manipulating Momentum meetings to cut out any views that contradict their own, these “moderates” will stop at nothing to keep their grubby mitts firmly at the reins of a party which is steering in another direction.

Corbyn’s election promises struck a chord; a single compromise on austerity would be a betrayal of all those who have engaged and are willing to support a position of Councils coming together to oppose the cuts. Trying to compromise between the tens of thousands taking their first tentative steps into the field of politics who outright reject austerity and the thousands of Labour Councillors who have, up until now, put through austerity without any resistance but “with a heavy heart” would be an impossibility.

It is disappointing that Jon Lansman, one of the directors of Momentum, pulled out of a planned debate at the Socialist Party’s annual Socialism 2015 event recently due to the Sun releasing a “reds under the bed” article:

The terms of the debate cannot be allowed to be set by the likes of Murdoch’s gutter press. Likewise, trying to appeal or placate the right-wing in the Labour Party by compromising on policy or on the purpose of Momentum would be a huge error on the part of the Corbynistas. Furthermore, Momentum meetings should not shy away from political debates and discussions. It’s important to build and organise campaigns which people can get behind but at the same time the reasons for why those campaigns are being pursued and focussed on should be up for discussion.

Thus, anybody trying to dampen the call for political discussion or calling for unity above all in the Labour Party has to be seriously questioned on what basis that unity should or even could be achieved. There have, of course, been notable exceptions where Labour Councillors have opposed the cuts such as Keith Morrell, Don Thomas and Kevin Bennett to name but a few but they were expelled from the Labour Party for their efforts. These Councillors all did so whilst the Labour Party was under Miliband’s control but the Labour Party has not been forthcoming in welcoming these Councillors back into their ranks yet and all have found a home in TUSC (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition). Those calling for unity without question were deafeningly silent about unity in these cases and yet these Councillors have enjoyed the popular support of ordinary working-class people for daring to actually carry through their promises of opposing austerity in deed as well as in word.

Local Elections

Corbyn’s supporters have come into the Labour Party with the Blairites rushing through the selection process for next year’s local elections in order to ensure they can exclude the new layers, many of whom won’t yet be eligible to vote in these selection meetings. It is clear to the likes of right-wing Labour MP Frank Field that if Blairite candidates were to be deselected then he would be prepared to support them as independent candidates over the legitimately selected Labour candidate. With Corbyn’s supporters effectively barred from influencing who will potentially be representing them in council chambers up and down the country in the 2016 local elections will they be prepared to support independent candidates who genuinely support Corbyn if they are stuck with Labour candidates who don’t support Corbyn?

TUSC and the Socialist Party is in the process of writing to all Labour candidates running in the local elections next year to find out where they stand on opposing the cuts. If Councillors up for reelection are willing to move no-cuts budgets at the annual budget setting meetings and if new candidates are willing to pledge to openly support Corbyn’s call for councils to come together against the cuts then the Socialist Party will be happy to not stand candidates against them. Indeed we will do all we can to help be a part of the campaign to get these people elected. However, would it be right to allow Blairite candidates a free rein to stand unopposed when they will be undermining Corbyn’s policies and doing the Tories dirty work for them by implementing the cuts which are opposed by Labour’s leadership and a quickly growing layer of working-class people?

There are many challenges ahead but unity has to be forged on the basis of a programme which rejects austerity in word and deed and emphatically rejects the ideologically driven cuts which have hammered the poor and vulnerable whilst the rich have been showered with tax breaks, bailouts and massive profits. Workers have a world to win.

Ryan Aldred interviewed an RMT official about RMT’s decision to take 48 hours of strike action

Why have RMT members taken strike action?

This dispute has arisen over concerns surrounding the issue of new trains which First Great Western (FGW) and the RMT have been in talks over for two years. Staff working at stations and maintenance staff are likely to be withdrawn. Moreover, it is likely that the buffet car will be removed in favour of a buffet trolley which will mean a reduction in staff and a worsening of services provided.

Also, it seems that the role of the train guard is being withdrawn from London to Wales and the South West which means that trains will be Driver Only Operated. This means that rather than a guard being responsible for the train leaving the driver free to drive the train, the driver will have to take sole responsibility for the train.

This would require ensuring that trains depart from platforms safely with no assistance from staff on the platform and the driver taking sole responsibility for passenger safety in the event of an accident despite the driver being most at risk. These changes would jeopardise passenger safety and because of this RMT has balloted members working for FGW and has seen resounding support for strike action so members have taken 48 hours of strike action followed by 24 hours of action short of strike.

What has the mood been like among strikers?

The mood has been very good. Both old and new members are taking part and taking lead roles with many members taking strike action for the first time. Members were employed to do a job and we won’t accept FGW changing terms for worse service. So far there have been two meetings since the ballot and at every stage the company refused to meet our demands. Our members feel that these are not too much to ask when East Coast Trains have met these demands and have the same trains. If these concessions are acceptable for East Coast to offer their staff it should be good enough for FGW staff as ultimately it is the passengers that would have to endure worse service and increased risk to safety.

What has support from the public been like?

The public have been overwhelmingly on our side as they are concerned about the prospect of a worse service. FGW have promised more customer facing staff but we are seeing more staff being removed from customer facing roles which will eventually lead to a faceless railway. Even some MPs have felt the pressure and have come out in support of this strike action as the wider public are hugely in favour of passenger safety over profiteering.

Are RMT members prepared to take further action if necessary?

Further action is being looked at after the 48 hour strike and overtime ban has taken place. Members are prepared to take further action but we are open to talks with FGW to try and resolve this matter. We don’t want members to lose money but we have had to take this decision to protect the safety of passengers as well as ensuring the job security and safety of staff. Our members were employed to do a job, they cannot have their terms changed at the bosses’ whims

Our demands to FGW are:

We want a guard on all services to ensure passenger safety

Retaining role of dispatch staff to ensure safety of passengers making their way from the platform to the train as well as ensuring safe train departures

Buffet service to continue to be offered from a buffet car as preferred by customers rather than a buffet trolley which won’t work in busy times

TUPE all in house fleet maintenance staff to Hitachi who will have sole responsibility of keeping fleet serviced and maintained

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Since the General Election, Labour have been increasingly inward looking as they come to terms with falling horrendously short of shutting the Tories out. Drawing all of the wrong conclusions, the leadership are moving rightwards as they view their defeat in the polls as a sign that they were too left-wing. In reality, the lack of an alternative on offer is really the issue which has seen them falling short of forming the next Government. Labour promised to continue on with the austerity onslaught started by the Conservatives and their now collapsed Liberal Democrat partners and in doing so have been snubbed at the polls.

Despite the similarities in their economic strategy, Labour had nevertheless been posing themselves as an alternative to the Conservatives in their rhetoric. This will have undoubtedly swayed many voters who have seen Labour move further and further rightwards but would hold their nose and remain faithful to Labour to “stop the Tories getting in”. It will therefore come as a shock to many of these people to see Labour reveal how far they have degenerated as they have now formally agreed to share power with the Conservatives in Plymouth’s hung council.

Labour will no doubt justify this arrangement as a means of shutting the 3 UKIP Councillors out from becoming kingmakers with the Tories now that Labour have lost their majority on the council. If that is the case then Labour will quickly fall to pieces as it is simply siding with what it considers to be the least worst of two bad options. If Labour were willing to take more of a lead and not implement the eye-watering cuts passed down from national level they would probably never have lost their majority on the council but this latest move will only alienate those who will have voted Labour to keep the Tories out.

In light of this move, Plymouth’s 3 UKIP Councillors will most likely portray themselves as the rebellious anti-establishment underdogs but only a cursory glance at their voting patterns shows that they are just as much a part of the problem. Having offered no resistance to the cuts by not tabling an alternative budget and even voting against implementing a living wage for all Council staff, it is clear that UKIP in Plymouth are just another brand of establishment offering another brand of austerity.

With no illusions in Labour as the reality of this grand cuts coalition will start going about its business of butchering public services, people will very quickly start looking for alternatives. The trade union leaders will now have a very difficult time arguing that Labour are an alternative when the evidence is clearly showing otherwise. The attacks on jobs, conditions and public services will now come thick and fast and people will be looking for a means of organising to fight back and resist the compounding of an already desperate situation.

People will not need to look far as the Socialist Party and TUSC continue to campaign for an end to the cuts and the immediate implementation of a £10 an hour minimum wage, standing shoulder to shoulder with workers as they take to strike action. Labour’s collaboration with the Tories shows that they are not in any way an alternative. We can either mourn at the loss of a Party that is no longer ours or we can be part of the building of an alternative that effectively counters what the Tories have in store for us. Now is the time to get involved with TUSC, join the Socialist Party and build a movement to end austerity.

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With just over 3 weeks to go until the General and Local Elections take place I have found it useful to take 5 minutes between putting letters and statements together, preparing for hustings and leaflet drops as well as canvassing, to reflect on the changed mood from last year.

One of the first things that I have noticed this year is the diminished support for UKIP when speaking to people on doorsteps. It was to be expected that UKIP would be prominent in last year’s elections as the local elections ran concurrently with the European Elections but one thing that has been striking this year has been the lack of vocal support this year compared to last year for UKIP. I have had conversations with a number of people who have expressed support for UKIP, more as a protest vote than anything else, but there has been a marked drop in self-proclaimed UKIP supporters or voters.

This seems at odds with the giant billboards, masses of leaflets going out as well as the seemingly full-time commenting on local news websites of some UKIP supporters. However, this will all have been paid for by millions which have been provided by rich donors that were once loyal to the Conservatives.

Something else I have noticed is a lack of canvassing and grass roots campaigning by the other parties. I have spoken to plenty of people who almost seem surprised that a rosette wielding Socialist is knocking at their door of an evening until I point out that there’s only 3 weeks to go until polling day. Again, there are plenty of billboards from all of the Capitalist parties being erected across the city in an almost clandestine turf war but this seems to be the extent of it. The battle for hearts, minds and political ideas seems to have been reduced to an almost clinical advertising campaign.

One other very encouraging difference I have noticed in this election compared to last year is that these elections are much more political than in previous years. It is clear now more than ever before, at least in the course of my political experience, that people are searching much more deeply for a political outlet which best represents their increasingly irked voice. There is a clear rejection of the tired swing from Labour to Conservative and back again as more and more people are looking to parties that can offer a way out of the protracted crisis caused by the current rut Capitalism finds itself in.

Some have been pulled in by the simplistic and mistaken view that immigration is the cause of every societal woe, whether it’s overcrowded schools, the stagnant wages or the alleged influx of health tourists “burdening our NHS” offered by a rightwards lurching UKIP. Others are turning to the seemingly refreshing views of the Greens, who have lurched leftwards in their rhetoric with promises to end austerity and promise of a minimum wage of ₤10 an hour by 2020. Yet when the Greens have been in a position to end austerity, such as in Brighton and Hove or Bristol, they have capitulated and joined an increasing rainbow coalition of austerity wielding parties. Not to mention that ₤10 an hour is needed now, not some time in the distant future.

There is a dwindling rump of support for the Conservatives and Labour, mainly made up of stalwarts and party faithfuls that have not yet come to terms with the fast changing political landscape. Things cannot go back to the way they used to be. Labour seem to be desperately trying to shed its working-class base as it has spent more and more of its time marketing itself to big business with continued austerity whilst opportunistically also offering rhetoric about communities and helping the most vulnerable. This flies in the face of the reality of Labour councils which have dutifully implemented austerity passed down to them by the Con-Dems.

Likewise, the Conservatives have not managed to attract voters beyond its core support as most people are under no illusions about us all being in this together after 5 years of wages, terms, conditions and public services being hammered.

It’s hugely encouraging to be out canvassing on the streets and being greeted, on the whole, with a barrage of questions as it is clear that the working-class are really starting to explore the potential avenues for them to venture down on the political plain. Fed up with more of the same or petty compromises working-class people are looking for a way out of the sustained poverty and misery being unnecessarily inflicted upon them.

As a Socialist Party member and TUSC candidate in the local elections this May I am glad to be there offering a genuine alternative to austerity through the striving for a socialist transformation of society. The ground is fertile for our ideas, having spent just an hour canvassing we were able to pick up 6 contacts as well as a much larger number of people who said they would seriously consider casting a vote for us this May.

Even more inspiring was the presence of a Norwegian student in attendance at our latest branch meeting, directly as a result of our sustained campaigning efforts. Keen to learn more about what the Socialist Party, and indeed the Committee for a Workers’ International, has to offer, I am confident that this can be replicated many times. We are turning more and more heads in this election and more importantly gaining new members and organisers. This will really accelerate the process of building a strong workers’ movement hungry from poverty, hungry for change… hungry for socialism.

I would like to dedicate this post to Declan Clune, a faithful reader of my blog since its inception.

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Nationally, the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is standing over 100 parliamentary candidates and over 600 candidates in local elections this May. In Plymouth, TUSC managed to stand in all 19 seats last year, securing over 1,150 votes the first time we stood across the city. This year, TUSC is standing another 19 candidates in the local elections. This means that every voter in Plymouth will have the chance to vote for an electoral alternative that will protect public services and will not implement austerity.

Across Europe there is a growing rejection of austerity and TUSC is standing as widely as possible to give expression to the same mood which exists here in Britain. This is a very ambitious task as it means standing the biggest left of Labour electoral challenge since the end of the Second World War.

This is made more challenging as it is not free to stand in the General Election. Each candidate has to put forward a deposit of £500. This means that nationally, TUSC is having to put forward nearly £70,000 just so that we can stand our parliamentary candidates this May. This is before we even begin to take into account the costs of mounting our election campaign.

It is for this reason that TUSC have to think seriously about where we can have the biggest impact to ensure that we are able to reach the widest number of people as we simply do not have the resources to contest all 650 seats this May. As we will be standing in every seat in the local elections in Plymouth we will already be making in-roads from last year’s successful campaign.

By focussing our efforts in the Plymouth Moor View constituency, we can strengthen the gains that we have already made and develop the profile and grass roots support of TUSC. At the same time, by not standing a candidate in Plymouth Sutton and Devonport we can ensure that the resources are freed up to be put to use in another constituency where TUSC has not built such firm foundations. This will ensure that the banner of TUSC is raised higher than ever as the need for a new workers’ party could not be more stark.

All the main parties are committed to implementing austerity. The Con-Dems have ruthlessly cut funding to local authorities and Labour have committed to Tory austerity measures if elected. Moreover, the Greens have implemented austerity where ever they have been in a position to effectively oppose austerity such as in Brighton and Bristol and UKIP in Plymouth voted against the implementation of a living wage for Council workers. It is clear that there is a need to build a new workers’ party which will oppose austerity in word but also in deed.

Plymouth voters are invited to cast their votes for the only electoral alternative which will protect jobs, public services and will invest in the people who have had to bear the burden of a financial crisis that was not caused by them. Plymouth TUSC remains committed to campaigning for a £10 an hour minimum wage, building social housing to stop the spiralling housing crisis and will set a budget which protects jobs and frontline services, without shifting the cost onto Plymothians through raising council tax.